JenEric Designs

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

Sometimes a story idea comes and bites me and refuses to leave. That happened to me last night. 

On a discord that I’m in, we were talking about “Own Voice” stories, and I realized that I’ve never written a character who was like me. Parts of me are in all my characters, obviously, but I’ve never written about me.

I was listening to the X-Ambassadors’s album Townie and thinking about Stand by Me and came up with this concept. I needed to get it out so I wrote a proof of concept. These sometimes turn into novels and sometimes get forgotten. Who knows, we’ll see what happens.

I’ve also been interested in writing a subtler magic, almost magical realism but without the stereotypical pompousness. 

I’m calling it:

The Summer of ‘99 and How I Died

There’s no such things as ghosts, lake monsters, wild dinosaurs, or aliens. They certainly do not live in Northern Ontario. None of this is true. I made it all up thirty years later while listening to sad music and wondering what could have been.

I turned sixteen in the summer of 1999, and it was filled with magic and horror. Not the kind I’ve read in books or seen in movies. It wasn’t flashy but it was beautiful and sad.

The first day of summer break was hot and sticky in a way that was rare in Val Perdu. We got heat, but normally it was dry, like being stuck in an oven. That day, a storm was threatening the horizon but the sun refused to move out. The clouds passed north and south, not blemishing the heat or light of summer.

Being the quintessential nerd, I was in my living room practicing the saxophone, trying to transcribe a song about the devil stealing partiers from the woods. “Au bal des bois” by Deux Saisons is still one of my favourite songs and reminds me of those days.

I had managed to honk out a good portion of the song, I wasn’t that good, when there was a knock at the door. I expected it  to be a neighbour or someone coming to say hi to my mom. 

“Yo man, wanna come to the beach?” Ethan was tall, thin, with shaggy black hair and pockmarked skin. He made up for his lack of charisma with his determination and genuine excitement about life. Having a license and a car didn’t hurt.

Standing next to him was his girlfriend Sarah. She was short, petite, with curly brown hair, an easy smile, and a sadness that I never understood.

The two of them were already in bathing suits and staring at me expectantly. I had plans that day, self-decided plans that were easily moved but I had made up my mind. I discovered a long time after that I was autistic and changing plans wasn’t something I enjoyed.

Standing there, my messy blond hair standing on edge, my Rush concert tee filled with holes, and in an old pair of shorts; I panicked. I wasn’t cool. I was expecting to spend the summer reading, playing video games and hanging out with my mom. That sounded lovely, but here were people who genuinely wanted to hang out with me. I didn’t know why but I rarely understand why people do things. Especially in the moment. I half expected it to be some sort of prank, which unfortunately had plenty of precedent.

My choice that day changed my life and I sometimes wish I’d said no. 

“Uh… Sure. Let me get changed and I’ll be right out.” I closed the door on them and went to my mom who was playing Asheron’s Call, an early online roleplaying game. 

“Ethan invited me to go to the beach, is that okay?” I asked. I wanted her to turn and look at me. Say no, or ask who else was going to be there. I wanted her to be protective. 

“Sure. Bring some water and put on sunscreen.” She said it without looking up. 

I changed in my room, putting on my bathing suit. It was a little tight. I wondered if I could get away with swimming in a tee or if that would just bring more attention to me. I wasn’t fat but I didn’t know that. I was convinced my little belly was huge and that I was hideous. 

My mom had struggled with her weight her whole life and had criticized herself so much that I internalized it. She never once said anything about my weight except when I came back from university after having a norovirus and had lost thirty pounds. Then she worried about me.

I put on a tee, grabbed a towel, sunscreen, and a bottle of water. “I love you mom!” I shouted as I left.

“I love you too. Have a good time and be safe!” she shouted back. 

Outside smelled like wet dirt and sweat. Not even the wind cooled me down, and I instantly started sweating from my head and back.

My friends were waiting in the car, an old, beat up Toyota that must have been blue once upon a time but was closer to grey now. All the windows were open and I could see Ethan and Sarah making out. It looked awkward and made me feel strange. I was sixteen and three years away from realizing I was bisexual; give me a break. I thought everyone but me was attractive at the time.

I folded myself into the back seat on the driver’s side and had to sit sideways because Ethan was tall and the car wasn’t that big. 

“Hi,” said a soft voice. It was Vero. She was beautiful, or at least I could only see her beauty. She was kind of my girlfriend but we’d never said the words out loud. We’d spent a lot of time kissing though. She was a little taller than me and she’d dyed her shoulder length hair red with blonde streaks. She was wearing a loose shirt over her bright green bikini.

“Hi,” I said, my face feeling stretched from the goofy smile I was giving her. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“How could I pass up the chance to go to the beach and watch these two fence with their tongues all day?.”

“At least they’re having fun,” I said.

“Hey, I offered you the chance to join in,” Ethan said from the corner of his mouth.

“Ew. No!” Vero replied but she was smiling. I was fairly certain they were joking around but at the same time I felt a little jealous. Ethan had a girlfriend and he knew how I felt about Vero. I’ve always had a hard time knowing when someone was joking or serious, especially when it’s about romance.

We didn’t say anything for a few really awkward moments. Finally I broke down and said, “It’s really hot out here. Can we get going?”

We drove down Val Perdu’s main street, passing the corner store, and the Cco-op, which was a grocery store and hardware store combined.

A few more houses and we were between the main town and the east side of town that was on the trans-canada highway. The Eeast side had a bunch of houses, a motel,  and a small gas station.

Then we were on the way to the beach. A massive five- minute drive on gravel roads. The dried dust stung our eyes but closing the windows would be broiling. We’d be there soon, and everything would change when I almost drowned and found that egg. 

To be continued… maybe

Éric